Wichita is a go.

I just accepted the position at WSU. Kansas and family, here we come!!!!

Leaning toward Wichita

Hola, family and Beth-Beautiful-Smile-Leyva!

Got a job offer on Thursday from WSU. 10% pay cut, BUT based on online figures, that's to be expected in Wichita and in the Midwest for my field. (Actually, Kennesaw to Wichita figures indicate that I should get a 20% pay cut, so actually the WSU offer is generous).

We're taking the weekend to think it over ... THANK GOODNESS, because our initial reaction was to simply stand our ground (no more than a 2.5% pay cut). But time and reflection have allowed us to put things into perspective, I think. As I drove home from work, I looked past all the stress (and risk) of trying to sell our house in this market (not to mention packing/moving, teaching and advising at KSU all summer, and planning fall courses for WSU) and realized that at this point, all we have to do is say "yes." If we just say yes, then we're back in Kansas.

And for the past 24 hours, we've been on the "yes" wagon. We've been getting realtor recommendations, decluttering the house, deep cleaning, and staging it. We're trying to get things going.

Of course, we still have another 36 hours before I have to call WSU with our final decision (and even then, the position is contingent on the Board of Regents' funding -- typical clause -- until I sign a contract). But I'm pretty sure we're going to make a go of it. Kansas, here we come!

We can't wait to see you!

Another attempt adding adding my photos.

war medals

I have to go to work, but looking at the war medals, I believe that one is mom's from WWII. It is a good conduct medal: Freedom from War and Want, Freedom of speech and religion. The following is a link that talks about the medal.

http://www.ibiblio.org/himself/decorations.html#agcm


For Grandpa Consier it looks like the medals are a Victory Medal and the British War medal, but the ribbon does not match the one in the picture.

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/medals/ww1medals

Progress.....

Here is the next pic in my journey to a new me, physically. I hadn't really seen a difference when this second picture was taken. This morning was the first time I noticed anything. I will keep up with the the pictures of my progress.
I had a attempted to post something last weekend about our day with some pictures. Peter accidentally closed out & I lost everything I had typed. I will try to get those pics up when I have a chance. Hope all is well with my kin on this lovely sunday afternoon. Katie, you guys are in my thoughts as you wait to hear from Wichita.

What a fantastic age we live in, where we've technologically addvanced to
a point where one can make a blog post, surf the Internet and watch
movies all from ones cellphone. Coinidentally this post is being made
on my Blackberry Curve smartphone. Viva la T
ecnologia!

Building a family tree, off to a good start but any and all input would be fantastic. I'm not looking for specifics so anything you know relating to the Fiddler Kin family heritage would help enormously.

Wichita

One might consider that if the Wichita wheel turns this slowly, does one want to be on the wagon...

Homesick

Walk around feeling like a leaf.
Know you could tumble any second.
Then decide what to do with your time.

I like these words written by Naomi Shihab Nye. They are from her poem, The Art of Disappearing. It is one of many in Bill Moyer's book, The Language of Life. There are many other things I should be doing at this moment. But I felt a need to connect with my Fiddler Kin. I miss my family and I am homesick.

Mother has been gone for nine years. She died on April 15, 2001. I remember her energy. I wish I could have harnessed it for myself. I do not now feel the intensity of the hurt when Mother passed. I just feel a sweetness and a lightness when her memory appears. I am aware that her life mattered. I am also aware that all our lives matter; at least to each other.

So I love you Fiddler Kin. I wish I could see you this weekend. Instead I will just hold you in my heart.

By the way, if you like poetry, check out Bill Moyer's book from the library. He interviews several poets and shares examples of their work. The subtitle of the book is A Festival of Poets, and it is indeed that. The poets offer up a lot of touching/memorable insights about poetry and life.

Take care Fiddler Kin.

A Day at the Zoo

The Kansas City Zoo provided a nice field trip on a sunny April Saturday.....Marshall, Andy, and I headed east to Swope Park to visit this "exotic" venue.

Arriving at 10:30, the place was abuzz with toddlers, preschoolers and parents....
by 11:30 the high energy/excitement level of these youngsters had waned as they wandered along on warm asphalt to see the sights of "Africa" and "Australia." Parental enthusiasm and patience were tested as the sun's warmth intensified.

By 11:30 many of the inhabitants were bored...snoozing in the warm sunshine....a lone gorilla draped artistically across the lawn slept so peacefully I thought he was a goner! Lions rested in the shade on a distanct hillside. A cluster of monkeys/apes were so well hidden in a thicket of trees a 100 yards away that only a patient 30 year old with 20/20 vision could initally spot them....they entertained by calling loudly to each other...."stay hidden and the fools will leave!"

Only a few species were active...an ape family allowed their tiniest family member to be viewed quite easily. Elephants made the effort....strolling leisurely along the "people viewing" side of their enclosed acreage. Zebras and giraffes walked placidly around the habitat designed for them. The kangaroos and joeys watched us warily from an unfenced meadow....last time we visited a kangaroo hopped right across the path in front of us.

The old Ape House is no longer in use....the old 10x10 cells are ivy covered reminders of the days when no thought was given to "animal rights." The new design is an improvement.....

Three hours of leisurely strolling over two miles of paths made a nice diversion from the mundane chores of the weekend.

ellen

Happy Easter!

Hello, family! I hope you all are having a joyous Easter Sunday. The weather here is gorgeous ... sunny, 70s, everything is blooming. I love it! I spoke with Andy on the phone yesterday, and he said that it's pretty darn nice in the Midwest too. Yay!

Things are going well here. My interview at WSU went very well from my perspective -- the faculty was very kind and supportive of my research, the teaching load seems manageable, as do the research and service expectations, and W-town looked pretty darn good to me. Much easier commute but many of the assets of a big city. Trent and I would love to get back to the Midwest. WSU won't be making a decision until the end of this month. If I get a call, I'll be ready to negotiate. If the price is right, Trent and I are pretty gung-ho about getting this house on the market ASAP and making plans for a move. We did all the major spring yard work last weekend, and after the pollen drops, we'll pressure wash the house, paint the front porch, and stain the deck and back porch ... all things we'd need to do anyway but things that will help stage the house if we need to sell quickly.

In other news, the Braves' season begins tomorrow, and Trent's ... sort of excited. The commute is still long, but at least he enjoys his co-workers, and he's looking forward to running out during the 3rd and 6th innings.

Work is going fine for me. Four weeks until finals. We hosted our annual young adult literature conference this past week with some pretty big authors in YA literature. It was a lot of work, but if you weren't behind the scenes, it went smoothly. I've come up with some ideas to streamline our planning and preparation for next year, so if I'm still here, I look forward to putting those ideas into action.

On Friday I attended a honors student scholar ceremony where two students selected me as their faculty honoree. One of those students (who was in my writing class last summer) was selected for a Board of Regents award and delivered a keynote address during the ceremony in which he specifically thanked me and one of my colleagues from the College of Ed for our mentoring. That felt pretty nice ... particularly since the KSU President and Provost were there as well. :-)

Trent and I are planning to sign up for a 5K in May, and our triathlon will happen a month later on June 5. We are pumped.

I hope everyone has a beautiful week. We love you!